Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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MOBILE ORIGINATED GROUP SHORT MESSAGE SERVTCE AMID APPARATUS THEREFOR
This invention relates to mobile communications,
in particular but not exclusively to cellular radio
communications, such as in a GSM (Global System for
Mobile communications) digital cellular radio network.
A known conventional GSM network, referred to as
a public land mobile network (PLMN), is schematically
illustrated in Figure 1. A mobile switching centre
(MSC) 2 is connected via communication links to a
number of base station controller (BSCs) 4. The BSCs
4 are dispersed geographically across areas served by
the mobile switching centre 2. Each BSC controls one
or more base transceiver stations (BTSs) 6 located
remote from, and connected by further communication
links to, the BSC. Each BTS 6 transmits radio signals
to, and receives radio signals from, mobile stations
8 which are in an area served by that BTS. That area
is referred to as a "cell". A GSM network is provided
with a large number of such cells, which are ideally
contiguous to provide continuous coverage over the
whole network territory.
A mobile switching centre 2 is also connected via
communications links to other mobile switching centres
in the remainder of the mobile communications network
10, and to a public service telephone network (PSTN),
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which is not illustrated. The mobile switching centre
2 is provided with a home location register (HLR) 12
which is a database storing subscriber authentication
data including the international mobile subscriber
identity (IMSI) which is unique to each mobile station
8. The IMSI is also stored in the mobile station in
a subscriber identity module (SIM) along with other
subscriber-specific information.
The mobile switching centre is also provided with
a visitor location register (VLR) 14 which is a
database temporarily storing subscriber authentication
data for mobile stations which are active in the area
served by the mobile switching centre 2.
The GSM system, in common with other mobile
communication systems, supports a variety of
teleservices. One such teleservice is a speech
teleservice, for supporting voice calls on a speech
traffic channel. Other teleservices include a short
message service (SMS) which is used for transmitting
alphanumeric messages in the system on a low rate data
traffic channel. A user of the mobile station 8 may
generate a message by input to a user interface
device, and transmit the message, along with the
directory number of the terminating station for the
short message, to the service BTS 6. The message is
forwarded to the MSC 2, which forwards the message
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3
transmitted from the mobile station 8 to a short
message service centre (SC) 15, which stores the
message for onward transmission to the terminating
station corresponding to the directory number
specified by the user of the mobile station 8.
International Patent Application No. W094/09599
describes a method for transmitting short messages in
a GSM network. In order to reduce the effort and
signalling load, required in order to transmit a large
number of short messages to a large number of
terminating subscribers, a gateway MSC copies a
message received via a short message service centre
from the message generating mobile station to produce
a large number of messages, which are then forwarded
to the intended recipients.
When the gateway MSC receives a short message, it
analyses the part of the message signal containing the
address of the recipient to determine whether it
contains the address of a single subscriber or a
predefined identifier for a group of recipients. This
identifier, if present, is used to access a list of
directory numbers stored in the gateway MSC, which is
used to determine the intended recipients of the
message. The message is copied to each of those
intended recipients.
In accordance with an aspect of the invention
;nnENDED SHEET
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there is provided a mobile station for use in a mobile
communications system, said mobile station comprising
radio transmit means for transmitting short message
service signals for recipients identified by addresses
selected by a user and a memory for storing a
plurality of recipient addresses, characterised in
that said mobile station further comprises: a group
edit menu facility for allowing a user to create
groups of recipient addresses; means for storing group
data relating to said groups, said group data
including, for each said group, an identifier which is
specified by the user; and a group transmit menu
facility for presenting said identifiers to the user
in order to allow selection of one of said groups and
for initiating the transmission of short message
service signals for said selected group.
Thus, the invention in this aspect provides a
mobile station having menu facilities allowing groups
to be created and to be selected.
The group edit menu facility may allow a user to
create a group by selecting recipient address from a
stored list. The group data preferably comprises
' pointers to each recipient address in the group, in
said list. This can reduce duplication of data where
the user station is provided with such a list of
recipient addresses. The group data need not include
_ .,~~~ ~~~-tt;_T
CA 02262741 1999-02-09
the recipient addresses in full, by referring to the ,
addresses in the stored list.
If a recipient address is deleted from the list,
the data relating to the addresses in each group will
5 no longer be valid insofar as one of the addresses
identified in the group data, if it is the deleted
address, will no longer be available. The user
station preferably further comprises means for
searching and revising the group data relating to the ,
deleted recipient address in response to the deletion.
In accordance with a further aspect of the
present invention there is provided a mobile station
for use in a mobile communications system, said mobile
station comprising a memory for storing a plurality of
recipient addresses and means for sending a short
message to a selected recipient, characterised in that
said mobile station further comprises a group select
menu facility for selecting a group of recipient
addresses from said plurality of recipient addresses,
and a group transmit menu facility for sending a
series of short messages, one for each member of said
selected group of directory numbers, automatically in
a consecutive order.
Thus, a number of short messages can be sent for
each of a desired group of recipient addresses without
requiring the user of the mobile station to separately
AMENDED SHEET
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select and cause the mobile station to send a message for each
of the recipient addresses individually.
The group of recipient addresses may be selected from a
plurality of stored predetermined groups of recipient
addresses. This provides further convenience to a user,
insofar as the members of the group do not need to be selected
separately each time short messages are to be sent for the
selected group.
According to the present invention, then, there is
provided A mobile station for use in a mobile communications
system, said user station comprising a memory for storing a
plurality of recipient addresses and an alphanumeric text
message to be sent from the mobile station,
wherein said mobile station comprises a menu facility for
selecting a group of recipient addresses from said plurality
of recipient addresses, and a menu facility for sending
separate short messages for each member of said selected group,
said short messages each containing the same alphanumeric
message stored in said memory.
Embodiments of the present invention will now be
described, by way of example only, with reference to the
accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a block diagram of a mobile communications
network;
Figure 2 is a block diagram of a mobile station;
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Figure 3 illustrates the structure of a linear
f fixed data f i le ;
Figure 4 illustrates the structure of an ADN data
record;
Figure 5 illustrates the contents of a group list
file containing directory number group records in
accordance with the present invention;
Figure 6 is a flow diagram showing steps taken
when sending a short message in accordance with the
present invention;
Figure 7 is a flow diagram showing steps taken
when editing a directory number group list in
accordance with the present invention; and
Figure 8 is a flow diagram illustrating steps
taken by the mobile station when an ADN record is
deleted.
A GSM network, referred to as a public land
mobile network (PLMN), is schematically illustrated in
Figure 1. This is in itself known and will nvt be
described in detail. A mobile switching centre (MSC)
2 is connected via communication links to a number of
base station controller (BSCs) 4. The BSCs 4 are
dispersed geographically across areas served by the
mobile switching centre 2. Each BSC 4 controls one or
more base transceiver stations (BTSs) 6 located remote
from, and connected by further communication links to,
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8.
the BSC. Each BTS 6 transmits radio signals to, and
receives radio signals from, mobile stations 8 which
are in an area served by that BTS. 'that area is
referred to as a "cell". A GSM network is provided
with a large number of such cells, which are ideally
contiguous to provide continuous coverage over the
whole network territory.
A mobile switching centre 2 is also connected via
communications links to other mobile switching centres
in the remainder of the mobile communications network
10, and to a public service telephone network (PSTN),
which is not illustrated. The mobile switching centre
2 is provided with a home location register (HLR) 12
which is a database storing subscriber authentication
data including the international mobile subscriber
identity (IMSI) which is unique to each mobile station
8. The IMSI is also stored in the mobile station in
a subscriber identity module (SIM) along with other
subscriber-specific information.
The mobile switching centre is also provided with
a visitor location register (vLR) 14 which is a
database temporarily storing subscriber authentication
data for mobile stations active in its area.
Referring to Figure 2, a mobile station 8
comprises a transmit/receive aerial 16, a radio
frequency transceiver 18, a speech coder/decoder 20
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9
connected to a loudspeaker 22 and a microphone 24, a processor
circuit 26 and its associated memory 28, an LCD display 30 and
a manual input port (keypad) 32. The mobile station is
connected to a removable SIM 34 via electrical contacts 35.
The SIM 34 connected to the mobile station has a SIM
processor 36, for example a Hitachi H8 microprocessor, and SIM
memory 38, which includes for example 16 kilobytes of mask-
programmed ROM containing the SIM operating system, 8 kilobytes
of read/write EEPROM for the non-volative storage of data items
and 256 bytes of scratchpad RAM for use by the SIM processor
during operations.
Both the mobile station 8 and the SIM 34 are well known
and therefore need not be described in detail herein. A
commercially-available SIM is the GemXplore (registered trade
mark) SIM card produced by Gemplus, BP 100-13881, Gemenos
Cedex-France.
As described above, the SIM 34 is used for the storage and
retrieval of data items by the processor 26 of the mobile
station 8. The command set, data file structure and data
coding format for data communicated via the interface between
the mobile station processor 26 and the SIM processor 36 are
all specified, in the GSM system, in GSM technical
specification 11.11 (ETS 300 536).
CA 02262741 2004-12-02
A standard GSM file structure for the storage of data on a SIM,
referred to as a linear fixed file structure, is illustrated
in Fig. 3. It consists of a header 40 and record space 42.
The record space is divided into N fixed length records.
5 One data record provided in the SIM memory 38 in a
conventional SIM 34 is an abbreviated dialling number (AND)
record 44, which forms part of an AND list file having a linear
fixed file structure. Each AND record 44 has data stored in
a fixed length coding format. The record 44 is divided into
10 fixed-length data blocks, each consisting of one or more bytes.
A first data block 46, consisting of n bytes, is reserved for
directory number identifier data. A second block 48,
consisting of one byte, is reserved for data indicating the
length of the directory number. A third block 50, consisting
of one byte, is reserved for data indicating the type of
directory number stored in the record. A fourth block 52,
consisting of 8 bytes of memory, is reserved for the directory
number data itself. A fifth block 54, consisting of one byte,
is reserved for a "capability configuration pointer",
indicating the teleservices (e. g. voice call, SMS, fax, etc.)
which can be supported by the telephone equipment corresponding
to the directory number stored. A final data block 56,
consisting of one byte, is an extension record pointer, which
indicates the address of an extension record to be accessed in
a different data file to give the remainder of a directory
number.
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11
In this embodiment of the invention, the mobile station 8 is
capable of sending SMS teleservice short messages as defined
in GSM Technical Specification 03.40 (ETS 300 608) . In the
known short message service, a user of the mobile station 8
composes a short message, consisting of alphanumeric
characters, and specifies a recipient directory number, by
input via the keypad 32. When instructed to by the user, the
mobile station then sends a short message signal on a data
traffic channel of the radio interface to the fixed portions
of the mobile communications network. The short message signal
contains data defining the identity of the originating mobile
station, data indicating the directory number of the intended
recipient, and data within which the short message is coded.
When the signal is received by the MSC 2, it forwards it to the
SMS service centre Z5 for storage and forwarding to the
intended recipient.
Figure 5 illustrates the contents of a new data record
file, referred to herein as a group list file,
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12
stored in the SIM memory ~8 and used in connection
with the SMS teleservic~ in accordance with the
present invention. The group list file contains a
number of records 1 to n, each record storing data
relating to (i) an entry list 58 containing pointers
to records in the ADN list stored in a SIM, namely the
record numbers of particular ADN records, and (ii) the
number of entries 16 in the entry list 58, and an
alphanumeric group identifier 62, such as "Family",
"Project Team", etc. as shown. The entry list 58 for
each record is selected by the mobile user from
entries on the ADN list in the SIM, and the group
identifier 62 is defined by the user of the mobile
station by keypad input. The group list is stored in
the SIM 34 of the mobile station at a predefined
address, and records of the group list can be read by
the mobile station processor 26 by means of a read
command specifying the group list address and the
address (record number) of the record in the group
list.
Figure 6 illustrates a procedure for sending SMS
signals in this embodiment of the invention, which
utilises the group list described above. It allows
the user of the mobile station 8 to select either a
normal mode, in which a short message is sent to a
single selected directory number, or group mode in
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13
which a short message is sent to a selected group of
directory numbers.
The user first selects the short message service
and composes the short message, step 64, which is
stored by the mobile station in step 66. Next, the
user is prompted to select an SMS mode, which
selection is performed by user input in step 68. If
the user requires only normal mode, step 70, the user
selects the intended recipient's directory number in
step 72, and instructs the mobile station to proceed.
The mobile station 8 then proceeds to send the short
message radio signal, step 74, containing the short
message.
If the user requires group mode, step 70, the
mobile station retrieves the group list from the SIM
34, by addressing each record in turn, step 76, and
displays the group identif ier 62 to the user, step 78,
on LCD display 30. The user then selects an intended
group of recipient directory numbers by keypad input
in step 80, to which the mobile station responds by
displaying the number of directory number entries in
the selected record, step 77. The mobile station may
also display the alphanumeric identifiers of each ADN
record in the selected group, if required. If the
user is satisfied with the selection, by user entry,
step 79, the mobile station is instructed to proceed,
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14
step 81.
The mobile station now has stored in its memory
28 the short message to be sent and the group record
of the selected group. In step 82, the mobile station
processor 26 proceeds to read the first entry in the
entry list 58 indicating the ADN record number of the
first intended recipient directory number. The mobile
station processor then reads the corresponding record
stored in the ADN list of the mobile station, and
retrieves the stored directory number.
The mobile station then proceeds directly to
transmit the short message radio signal, containing
the short message, in step 84 , to the serving BTS 6
for the first directory number, which is indicated in
the short message signal.
Once the short message signal has been
transmitted in its entirety, the mobile station
proceeds to retrieve the directory number from the ADN
record having a record number which appears next on
the entry list 58 of the group list, in step 86. A
short message signal, containing the same short
message, is then sent for this next directory number,
step 88. This directory number retrieval and short
message signal transmission process is repeated until
the end of the entry list 58 is reached, in step 90.
Thus, a short message is sent to each of the
CA 02262741 1999-02-09
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directory numbers corresponding to the entries in the
group record entry list 58 automatically, i.e. without
user intervention, in automatically consecutive order,
i.e. without requiring the user to select an intended
5 recipient directory number after a short message has
been sent to a different intended recip.i~nt directory
number.
Referring now to Figure 7, the group list can be
edited in accordance with a menu facility provided in
10 this embodiment of the invention. When the user
enters the group list edit function, the mobile
station proceeds to display different options on the
LCD display 30, step 92, which the user selects
between, step 94, by keypad input.
15 If the user chooses to add a group record, step
96, to the group list, the mobile station checks, step
98, if a record is available. If not, the edit
facility ends. If a group record is available, the
mobile station proceeds to display options for editing
the selected empty group record, step 100.
If the user selects in step 94 to edit a group
record, step 102, the mobile station 8 displays all of
the group identif iers fvr the current group records in
the group list, step 104. The user then selects one
of the group records by means of the group identifier,
step 106, and the mobile station then proceeds to
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16
display further options, step loo, which the user
selects between by keypad input in step 108.
If the user wishes to add a directory number to
the entry list for the selected group record, step
110, the mobile station proceeds to display all of the
ADN identifiers appearing in the ADN list stored in
the mobile station SIM 34, step 112. From these ADN
identifiers, the user selects the chosen ADN to be
added to the group record, step 114. The mobile
station then proceeds to add the ADN record number of
the selected ADN record to the group entry list 58, in
step 116. Next, the value of the number of entries 60
for the group is incremented to reflect the added
record number entry, step 118. The procedure then
moves back to step 100, in which the options for
editing the selected group are again displayed.
If the user selects in step 108 to delete a
directory number from the entry list of the selected
group, step 120, the mobile station proceeds to
display each of the ADN identifiers for the ADN record
indicated in the group entry list 58, step 122. The
user then selects which of the group's directory
numbers is to be deleted, step 124 , by means of the
ADN identifiers. The mobile station then proceeds to
delete the selected ADN record number from the group
entry list 58, step 126, shifting the remaining
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17
entries if required to defragment the entry list.
Next, the mobile station decrements the number of
entries datum 60 to reflect the reduced number of
entries in the entry list 58, step 128. 'The procedure
then moves back to step 100, in which the group edits
options are displayed again.
If in step 108 the user selects the option to
update the group identifier 62, the user i_s prompted
to input the new group identifier, step 132. The
mobile station then updates the group identifier data
for the record, step 134, and returns to step 100.
If in step 94 the user selects the option to
delete a group from the group list, step 136, the
mobile station proceeds to display each of the group
identifiers occurring in the group list, 138. From
these, the user selects a group record to be deleted,
140, which the mobile station proceeds to delete in
step 142. That group record then becomes available
for the storage of a further group list.
Referring now to Figure 8, there is also provided
in this embodiment a procedure whereby, if an ADN
record is deleted from the ADN record list, the group
list stored on the SIM is updated, When an ADN record
is deleted by input from the user or otherwise, step
144, the mobile station performs a search through the
entry lists 58 of each group record in the group list,
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18
for the record number of the deleted ADN record, step
146.
If the ADN record number is found in a group,
step 148, it is deleted from the entry list of the
group in which that ADN record is found, step 150, and
the remaining entries in the entry list 58 are
shifted, to reduce any fragmentation of the entry list
caused by the deletion of an entry.
Next, the mobile station proceeds to update the
number of entries datum 60 by decrementing the value
stored to reflect the deletion of an entry from the
entry list 58. The search procedure is re-initiated,
returning to step 146, until no further instance is
found of the deleted ADN record number occurring in
the group list.
Other Embodiments
In the above embodiment, the mobile station
automatically sends each SMS signal without requiring
intervening user input after the mobile station is
instructed to proceed to send the SMS signals.
In some cases it may however be preferred to
allow the user to enter an instruction to continue in
the time after one SMS signal has been sent and before
the following SMS signal is sent. The mobile station
would signal, for example audibly, to the user when
the first SMS signal has been sent successfully, to
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19
prompt the user for a continue command, which may be
input for example via the keypad of the mobile
station. A continue command could be required after
each SMS signal is sent, or intermittently after a set
number of signals has been sent.
In the above embodiment, the mobile station is a
GSM-compatible mobile station, having a SIM. However,
the invention could be implemented in relation to a
mobile station used in other mobile communications
systems, such as CDMA, PDH and third generation
systems. References to GSM include other standards
for which at least some features are set by the GSM
technical specifications such as the PCN standard and
the DCS 1800 standard.
The group list data need not be stored on a
removable data store, such as a SIM, but could be
stored in another memory element provided in the
mobile station.
In the first described embodiment, the group list
records contain the record numbers of the ADN records
containing the recipient directory numbers for the
group. In an alternative embodiment, each group list
record contains the recipient directory numbers for
'the group in full. An ADN list can then be assembled
from the superset of entries in each of the group list
and/or a supplemental ADN list.
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Furthermore, the mode of selection of the
directory numbers in a group is not limited to the
selection of a pre-stored group of directory numbers.
In a further embodiment, after the user has composed
5 the short message, the user would be presented with
the ADN list record identifiers, from which the user
could select each ADN record to be included in the
selected group by keypad input. The mobile station
would, in response to a command from the user, then
10 send an SMS signal for each member of the selected
group in an automatically consecutive order.
It should be noted that the invention is not
limited to the sending of short message signals. The
invention could be implemented in relation to any
15 teleservice which a mobile station supports, such as
a multiple-recipient facsimile teleservice. Also
envisaged is a method for establishing multiparty
voice calls which is essentially similar to the
methods described for sending SMS signals to a group
20 of recipients. In the case of the establishment of
multiparty calls, a voice call establishment procedure
would be initiated for each of the group list members
in turn, in accordance with the selected group list
record.
In the first described embodiment, the group
messaging procedure is directed by the mobile station
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21
processor, the SIM playing a passive role. In an
alternative embodiment, the procedure could be
implemented entirely by commands sent by the SIM
processor to the mobile station processor. Thus, the
SIM processor would instruct the mobile station
processor to offer a group messaging menu facility,
the menu facility prompts being sent from the 5IM to
the mobile station. Once a group SMS signalling
procedure is confirmed by the user, the SIM processor
would instruct the mobile station processor to send an
SMS signal to each of the recipient directory numbers
in turn. An advantage of this alternative embodiment
is that a group messaging feature can be provided
without the need for modification of the mobile
station. All that is required is a mobile station
which accepts the appropriate control signals sent by
the SIM processor.
It is also envisaged that various modifications
and variations to the above described embodiments
could be made, without falling outside the scope of
the present invention which is defined in the appended
claims.
